


Time and Soul

by murundelnys666



Series: I Write Shorts, Not Trilogies [2]
Category: Trials and Tragedies, Trials and Trebuchets (Podcast)
Genre: Crossover, F/F, Light alcohol usage, train universe fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-17
Updated: 2021-03-17
Packaged: 2021-03-25 18:22:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,739
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30093228
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/murundelnys666/pseuds/murundelnys666
Summary: Train Mira and Delnys are currently on the look out for various stray souls. While trapped in a hospital, the two contemplate their past, their relationship, and what the future might hold. A short fluff story in the IWTNT-verse
Relationships: Train Mira/ Delnys Raethran
Series: I Write Shorts, Not Trilogies [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2025872
Comments: 1
Kudos: 3





	Time and Soul

**Author's Note:**

> AN: warning!! This is meant to be read after the Trials & Tragedies trilogy, specifically the final book, Wake Me Up When Trebuchets End. if you haven’t read those, then you might not wanna read this as it might spoil that and also might be incomprehensible, sorry!! But if you just wanna read a short little au delta story then sure be my guest! Anyway this story is dedicated to a, i hope you enjoy reading it!

She held the bottle in her hand, sliding it up and down her fingertips, hoping to feel the condensation off of it. The act of touching was so weird nowadays. She remembered what it felt like to hold something, sure. She had her own memories of that, plus a thousand of other people’s memories, just floating in her head. And yet as she held it in her fingertips, she felt nothing. She reminded herself of what coldness felt like and played it back in her thoughts. It was the closest she could get nowadays. 

She wasn’t sure why she still did it, why she even bothered. She knew it wasn’t going to work. It didn’t work the first time, nor did it work the last time. Or the time before that. Or the time before that. Or the time before that. Or… well, you get the idea. But it didn’t help the cravings, the little tics in her brain that would make her get the sudden urge. What if it worked this time? What if she could just have a little bit? That wouldn’t be so bad, right? She raised the bottle to her lips and took a swig. For a brief second, she thought it worked. And then she looked down and saw the liquid bend and contort through her body, dripping out from the feet of her toes and onto the ground. 

Fuck. 

Her first instinct was to throw the bottle across the room, but she had gotten better about that sort of thing. All it took was a bunch of stained walls and Delnys reminding her to calm down to teach her that keeping her emotions in check was important. Not that stained walls were really much of a big deal to her, though. It’s not like they were going to be seeing this place again. 

That reminded her. It’s been a while since Delnys left. She hoped she was okay. She knew that she was. Delnys had become very capable of taking care of herself ever since, well, everything happened. But she still couldn’t help but worry. She didn’t know why Delnys was being so protective of her these days. She understood wanting to keep her from danger, sure, but it didn’t really make sense to keep her alone all of the time. She was capable of handling things. She handled things before. 

Hadn’t she? 

She walked around the room, curious to see what all details she could make out in this place. She didn’t get to really examine it when they had first teleported in, as Delnys insisted on leaving to check out the area. It appeared to be some sort of hospital room, though not one she would recognize from her own universe. The ceiling wasn’t solid, but rather made out of some cheap foam looking rectangle tiles. The walls and ceilings were completely white with only occasional posters and beige cabinets breaking up the monotony. There were several metal beds with large machines next to them, all arranged in a four by three grid formation. There was something… off putting about this place. She wasn’t quite sure what it was. But this didn’t feel like the type of hospital people go to for normal reasons. She walked over to a countertop and pulled a brochure from a stack. On the front was what looked like a medical building and a smiling man with thick white hair a thin, chin strap beard. Text under him seemed to identify him as Dr. Richardson. She looked at the top of the pamphlet and read the words aloud. 

“FIMU… Forester’s Institute for the Medically Unwell. Huh.” She set the pamphlet back down sloppily and stepped aside. She looked through the cabinets, curious if there was anything interesting. Not really. Some equipment she knew nothing about, some paperwork that meant nothing to her, a box of syringes and a whole jar of lollipops. That was the most interesting thing to her. _God_ , she wished she could have a lollipop. At least Delnys could get some use out of them. 

Speak of the delnyl, the doors opened up and a woman walked in. Even if the room wasn’t empty, she definitely would’ve stood out. She had long, pointed elf ears, blonde hair cut into a bob, a black cloak over her black, long sleeved sweater, black leather pants and tall black boots. She was what the kids on the train would call “a little bit of a goth.” Leaning her large rifle against the cabinet, the girl shut the door behind her and pulled out a cigarette and a lighter. Placing the cigarette and her mouth and setting the tip aflame, Delnys Raethran took a long drag and exhaled. She looked down, noticing the wet tracks on the ground. “Mira. How’re you doing? Did you try it again?” 

“Um. Yeah. Sorry. What’s it like out there? Can we leave?” Mira walked over to her girlfriend, arms crossed, head tilting upwards. She had to look up at Delnys most of the time now, mainly because at some point in the years she was gone, Delnys had taken to wearing heeled boots. Plus ever since being brought back, Mira hadn’t seen the need to wear shoes at all. 

Delnys huffed and took another drag of her cigarette. “No. Not yet. Not until night is over. There’s something weird going on out there.” 

“Something weird?” 

“Yeah.” Delnys found a cup on the counter and ashed her cigarette. She walked across the room and sat down on one of the hospital beds. “It’s not… _not_ safe. But it’s not safe either. It’s… weird. I can’t describe it. Green night sky. And I’m not sure if that’s normal here or if something is wrong. There’s two moons.” 

“Two moons? That’s… weird.” Mira walked over and sat down beside her, resting her head on Delnys’ shoulder like she used to all those years (?) ago on the train. 

“Yeah, so… We might not want to leave the room just yet.” Delnys took another drag of her cigarette. “Unless you think we should go.” 

“No.” Mira straightened herself back up and faced Delnys. “We can’t. They’re here. I know they are.” 

“Oookay. And I’m just saying maybe it’s fine to just… let these ones go.” 

“No. I know at the very least one of them is here.” 

“And?” 

Mira scrunched up her nose. “What do you mean ‘and?’”

“I mean… it’s not like we were ever THAT close to those three. I mean, Serinepth, sure, I would hang out with her sometimes at parties growing up. But Inspector Winsler was a cop and Lady Integrity was, well… even when she was allowed in the rest of the train, she was intimidating as fuck.” 

“Yeah, yeah, I know…” Mira got up off the bed and paced around, her arms crossed, head faced towards the floor. “It just… seems like something we should do. I don’t know. Something is making me want to find them.” 

“Something?” 

“Yeah. Don’t laugh. It’s just… I don’t know. I want to find them. For… reasons.” 

“Why would I laugh? And, wait a second…” Delnys tossed her cigarette onto the ground and stomped it out with her boot. “You’re not thinking about Fake Mira again, are you?” 

“Yes. No. Maybe. I don’t know.” Mira huffed and took a lollipop out of the container. She ripped off the wrapper and placed it into her mouth. She couldn’t taste it, nor could she really feel it, but it was nice to have something there. “Our minds melded for a second, y’know? At Traincoming? And it was like… I felt what she felt. Had her thoughts. Knew her bonds. Just for a split second.” 

“Yeah, but she’s a gas lighting bitch.” Delnys went to go reach for another cigarette out of her pack but she stopped momentarily and gave a light sigh. Instead, she walked over by Mira and took a lollipop out of the jar and placed it in her own mouth. The flavor was apparently something called root beer. “I still think you two should have swapped back. She should be the one stuck like this.” 

“Maybe. I don’t know. That would have been… a whole thing… I mean, she doesn’t seem like a bad person. You know that, right?” 

“Could have fooled me.” 

Mira huffed and went to go sit down in the corner. She placed her knees up to her chest, one arm wrapped around them, the other fiddling with the stick of the lollipop. “I just… look, I think this is a good thing to do, okay? Once we gather all the souls Seltie let free, the sooner we can go back home.” 

“We already got everything we needed back from my family manor.” 

“No. I mean _home._ ”

There was a silence that filled the room. Mira wasn’t sure what she expected. This was a convo they had a few times before and it never ended up well. And yet she still brought it up, if anything in the vain hope that at some point, the reaction from Delnys would be different. But it was still the same: a long, uncomfortable amount of silence and her just saying, “Ah.” 

The two of them didn’t speak for a few moments. The only noise in the room was the hum of the dim, flickering fluorescent lights overhead. Mira just kept fiddling with the stick of the lollipop, bending it and twisting it until it was broken. “Do you ever think I’ll get to see my sisters again?” 

Delnys threw her candy in the trash and zipped her boots off. “I’m tired. I think I’m going to try and go to bed.” 

Mira watched as her girlfriend took off her cloak and accessories and set up one of the hospital beds, moving around pillows and machinery so that she could scoot two of them together. She did this all silently, with the reserved, single minded focus Mira was used to seeing in her these days. 

What all had happened to them? 

Mira laid in the makeshift shared bed. Nights were boring. She couldn’t sleep now. She wasn’t sure why. Her body didn’t need it so her body just didn’t. And yet Delnys still needed it. She was still half elf, after all. Unlike Mira, who was… well, something else. She wasn’t quite sure what she would call herself. 

Usually at moments like these, she would find solace going through one of the many memories that existed in her now. She was originally scared when she realized she had thousands of other people in her, especially since she didn’t remember when she had gotten them. Veronica explaining that it was something that happened during the Seltie fight that had apparently happened didn’t necessarily calm her nerves. 

Veronica. 

She wasn’t sure how to feel about her these days. 

It was hard to imagine that the shy timid girl who had been her roommate, who had needed so much comfort and reassurance, who had listened to her issues and was incapable of even braiding her own hair wasn’t real. And who was the person who took her place? What even was Veronica nowadays? How much of that original Ver was fake and how much was still around? Not as if they were going to see each other anytime soon. Even if Delnys didn’t harbor an intense dislike of the brunette girl, she wasn’t even sure what Veronica was up to now. Last she had heard, she had settled down with Other Mira. Those two were apparently pretty close. 

She hoped they were happy together. 

She looked at Delnys’ face. 

The face she had known for years. The one she had fallen in love with as a teenager, who she had devoted herself to, the one she moved mountains for, just to keep being with her. Her eyes scanned the face, hoping to see any of that girl still in there. It felt like it was getting harder every day. Mira regretted being gone so long. Not that she had a choice. Not that she had planned on it. But still. Delnys shouldn’t have gone through it alone. 

She placed her fingers on her cheek, gracefully tracing the scars on her beloved’s cheek. What had the years done to you, Delnys? What did you have to do? 

Suddenly Mira found herself somewhere else. Some sort of field. She was sitting at some wooden picnic table, a book in front of her. She looked down at the contents to find it was something about reanimating the dead. There were little annotations in it. Small little hearts, doodles of rabbits, highlighted sections about the dangers of mental alteration post revival. 

Mira traced the notes with her fingers and saw something else that was strange - her hands were a pale white. This was… This was one of those wasn’t it. 

Suddenly, Mira found her head moving. She wasn’t able to control it. She just found herself looking up from the book. That’s when she saw her. And by that, Mira meant she literally saw herself. But younger. Her hair was arranged in twin afro puffs. She was wearing a long yellow dress her father had bought her. It was one she hadn’t worn in a while, as it got damaged right before she got on the train. 

As her eyes made contact with herself, Mira could feel a huge burst of emotions. It was unexpected, but it was one that she recognized. It was eerily similar to the way she saw when she first saw Delnys. 

Foreign thoughts entered Mira’s head in a voice that weren’t her own. _I hope she comes over here. This is her third day visiting this park. Why can’t she just come talk to me?_

Why didn’t she talk to her? She was scared as hell, that’s why Mira didn’t. What if Delnys said no? What if she didn’t like her back? She was so rich and pretty and so cool. She was everything Mira wanted to be and everything Mira wanted. She couldn’t talk to her. 

And yet she did. 

Mira could see herself walking forward, nervously, slowly. Oh god. She could remember what she said. Please don’t say it, please don’t say it 

_“I want to ride you.”_

Mira felt herself die with embarrassment. But weirdly enough, there were other feelings there too: affection. Joy. Disbelief. Nervousness. These weren’t her own feelings. She knew that. They were, well…

_“Pardon?” Delnys said._ Mira could feel Delnys trying hard to hold in laughter. She also felt warm, as if she was blushing. 

_“Um. You’re going to Wild Cliff Express, right? That’s so cool. I meant, um, I want to ride with you. On the Wild Cliff Expre-“_

Delnys screamed, causing Mira to scream and remove her hand from Delnys’ face. The memories stopped. She was back in the hospital. Mira brought her hands to her chest, trying to make sure she didn’t touch Delnys again. She couldn’t take that risk. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for it to happen. I promise I won’t do it again. I promise. I promise.”

Delnys, meanwhile, had sat up and placed her hands to her face. She was taking fast and erratic breaths, her shoulders rising up and down. Mira had to sit up and adjust her stance to get a closer look at her face. Tears were streaming down her face. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. This is all my fault.”

Mira got as close as she felt comfortable risking. “What do you mean?” 

Delnys was hyperventilating, her words coming out fractured. “If it wasn’t for me, you wouldn’t have been on the train. You wouldn’t have been in debt. Everyone from the train would still be alive. It’s all my fault.” 

“Honey….” Mira reluctantly placed her hand on Delnys’ shoulder. “It… it’s… it’s okay. It’s going to be okay.” 

“You can’t say that. Not after all this. Not after what happened to you.”   
  
“I’m fine,” Mira lied. “Honestly. I’m fine. Everything is fine. Things are hard but… we’re going to make this work. Together.” 

Mira put her other hand over Delnys’ and the two women looked at each other’s eyes. Mira hated to see her cry. She hadn’t seen her cry since… 

Since all those arguments on the train. 

So many moments she wished she could take back. 

“Hey, I have an idea.” Mira took her hand off of Delnys’ shoulders and concentrated on the tips of her fingers. Slowly, they began to change into a lyre that merged into her wrist. It was something that weirded her out at first. But now, much like everything else, it was just a part of her. “How about I play you something so that you fall asleep again? Then once morning comes we can go out, get what we need, and then maybe take a break for a while. How does that sound?” 

Delnys was silent for a moment before squeezing Mira’s hand tenderly. She nodded. 

“Okay.” Mira smiled. She took her hand out of Delnys’ and placed it on the strings. She racked her brain for a second and thought. What to play, what to play… Who said she needed to play something with form? She could just improvise this. She was good at that. She just wanted to play whatever came to her. She plucked the strings softly, smoothly, watching as Delnys leaned back, shut her eyelids, and began to rest. At a certain point, she rested her arm on Mira’s stomach and cuddled up against her. She smiled. 

Delnys insisted on opening the doors first that morning. 

“I just want to make sure it’s safe out there,” she said, holding her giant rifle and cocking it. Mira wasn’t going to argue with her. She learned better than to do that. Delnys was stubborn and it was better to let her play action hero than it was to argue with her. Plus it had its charm. Mira had to admit it was sort of cute at times. 

Delnys stepped outside, closing the door behind her. It was quiet for a few moments and Mira started to get worried before Delnys came back, gun over her shoulders. “Yeah. It’s clear. Come on. Just a fair warning, it’s weird as fuck out here.” 

Mira wasn’t sure what to expect. Though she began to think she might have over worried. As she stepped outside, all she could see was a street. Just a normal corner of a city intersection. The only thing that was particularly bizarre was just how empty it was. Well, that plus the dried purple staining over all of the roads and the abandoned clothes that seemed to be just scattered about in various piles. She looked up. It was hard to see, since it was morning now, but Delnys was right: she could just barely make out two moons in the sky. 

“Fuck…” Mira instinctively held Delnys’ hand. “What do you think happened to them?” 

“Dunno. All I could tell yesterday was that something bad happens at night.” 

“Were the streets empty then too?” 

“No.” Delnys took her pack of cigarettes out of her cloak and lit one. “Do you know where we’re going?” 

Mira shook her head. “Um, yeah. There’s a particularly powerful thing calling me. Memories of… something called Magic: the Gathering.” 

“Well, lead the way, dear. You’re the one who knows where we’re going.” 

Mira stepped forward. She didn’t know the layout of this place. She could just hear the voice screaming in her head, the memories flooding in, like a voice calling for her to follow. They walked past more stained roads and stained walls and more abandoned piles of clothes. Cars were crashed into walls. Doors left open. Something happened here. She wasn’t sure what. But something had happened. 

She kept following the memories. There was something about katana practice. Something about Super Smash Bros on the Gamecube. Something about filling out forms to become a certified inspector. A baby cat opening its eyes for the first time. All of these called to her, combined in her head, giving her a path to follow until the two found themselves at the front door of a small blue house. Mira knocked on the door. No answer. She tried to see if she could open it. It was locked. Delnys took out her rifle and pointed it before Mira stopped her. 

“Wait. I think I know a trick for this.” Mira touched her fingers against the keyhole and watched as they slid into the lock, making a perfect fit. She twisted her wrist and they could hear the lock turn. She cautiously slid her hand out of the lock and gave herself fingers again. With that, she gripped the knob and turned it, worried about what she would find. 

The door didn’t open all the way. A knocked over coat rack was in the way. Still, they were able to crack it enough for the two girls to slide in. The main living area was… nice enough. Black and red chevron wallpaper with light brown carpeting. In the corner of the room was a rocking chair and next to that a dark green couch with baby toys resting on it. There were purple sludge stains on the walls. It was… unnerving. Mira didn’t want to think of what happened to these people. 

“Jesus fuck…” Delnys said, walking around the room, taking it all in. She picked up a record off of the media station countertop and looked at it. Sixteen Reasons by Connie Stevens. She gives a light smile. “Well, at least we know they have records in this universe. That’s better than the last few we’ve been to.” 

“Yeah…” Mira was only half paying attention. The voice of the memories was stronger than ever. It was here. That was certain. It was just about finding the exact location. She walked around. Bedroom? No. Bathroom? Also no. Then she walked towards it… the kitchen. She wasn’t sure what she expected to find, but this was definitely a strange site. 

In a lot of respects, it was a normal kitchen, save for the purple sludge stains on the floor, the fork full of mashed potatoes poked into the wall, the runny, red text next to it that said “BEWARE OF ALBRAISIEL” and the floating red orb of energy. Well, at least Mira knew it was here, even if this place was super creepy. “Hey honey, do you have the ghost jug?” 

“Hm? Oh, right.” Delnys stumbled her way into the kitchen and stopped to take it all in. But then she saw the soul and realized she shouldn’t waste any more time here. She reached into her cloak and pulled out a small jug out of her inner pocket. She opened it up and let Mira guide the soul inside, pushing against it gently, like herding a small animal. As she did, Mira could feel the thoughts go into her head, the memories of leaving the farm for the first time and wanting to be a famous painter like Uncle Chudley. 

And then the soul was in the jar. 

“Well, that’s done then.” Delnys put the ghost jug back into her cloak and began to open up a portal. “You ready to go?” 

Mira thought about it for a second. There was something still nagging her, some voice still in her head. That’s when it occurred to her. “We can’t go. There’s still someone here.” 

Delnys rolled her eyes and got rid of the portal. “Really? Another Seltie soul?” 

“Yeah. It’s not one of SWIM, I don’t think. But… it’s still here…” She took Delnys’ hand. “Come on, follow me. It’s not too far away.” Mira could feel some resistance from Delnys, like trying to pull a small child in a grocery store, but it wasn’t long until the two of them were walking side by side across the barren streets, Mira listening in to whatever direction the faint voice was calling her to. Eventually they ended up at a small chapel named North Goliath Ministries. The parking lot was full of cars, some with the doors open, some with their windows down, some still running. 

“It’s here. The soul.” Mira opened the front door to the chapel and found herself in a main lobby. Several fancy suits and gowns admired the floor, including two up by the pew, two white gowns. Sitting to the right side, near the concessions, was a camera set up on a tripod, a red soul behind it. Since it wasn’t SWIM, Mira went ahead and grabbed the soul with her bare hands and allowed it to absorb into her. 

“So? Who is it then?” Delnys asked. 

Mira took a moment to let the memories settle in her head as the soul made space amongst the others. “His name was Billy. He was an amateur photographer. His main focus was cat photos. A lot of cat photos, god. But he took this gig in order to pay the bills and as a favor to his friends for their wedding. Sold his soul to Seltie in order to get decent camera equipment.” 

“Wow. Shitty deal, if you ask me” Delnys walked around, examining the clothes on the ground, and the gowns on the floor. “Does he… have any memories of what happened here?” 

Mira shook her head. “None that I can tell. He was just taking photos and then that’s it.” 

“Well, I guess it’s better he doesn’t have any memories of it. Seems like it was pretty brutal” Delnys leaned her gun against the wall and placed her hand on a glass of wine left at one of the tables. It was still cold. “Shame. This is a pretty good wedding venue. It would suck to let it go to waste.” 

“Yeah…” Mira absentmindedly looked at the catering table, the three layered wedding cake with a figurine of two brides resting on top of it. It was nice. She used to think of stuff like this all the time. She would imagine the day when she and Delnys would be in some nice venue, in a dress that her mom would have made her, saying their vows to each other and then cutting the first slice of cake and feeding it to each other and making a mess and laughing and 

Mira’s train of thought was interrupted by an arm placed around her shoulder and the feeling of something being slid up her ring finger. 

She looked over to see Delnys, placing a gold band on her own left hand. “I got these back from my dad’s place. I was trying to figure out when was the best time to give them to you. Now seemed like as good of a time as any.” 

Mira shook her head, not sure what she wanted to say. What she could even say. “Delnys. You don’t mean…?” 

She shrugged. “Why let a good spot go to waste?” She took Mira’s hand and guided her over to the front of the chapel, on the podium. The two stood across from each other. Delnys looked down at her. “Mira Marchand. Do you take me to be your lawfully wedded wife?” 

If Mira could cry still, she would’ve. But instead she just looked up, a big grin on her face. “I do.” 

She got on her tiptoes, placed her hand on Delnys’ scarred cheek, and kissed her. 

She could feel the energy flowing through her fingers as she touched Delnys and soon she was seeing something else. 

_“I got in!” the memory of herself said._ They were sitting in Delnys’ bedroom, the one she had at her original house, before all of this started. Mira had only been there once or twice before, yet now she had a clear concept of everything there _._

_“You got in?”_ she heard Delnys voice coming out of her _. “You… you’re actually going to be able to come to school with me?”_

“ _Yeah! We’ll be classmates! Isn’t that great?”_ Mira saw her own smile drop as the uncertainty she remembered having set in. _“That’s… fine, right? You don’t mind?”_

  
 _“Do I mind? Mira, I…”_ Delnys looked down at her own hands and then back at Mira’s face. She leaned closer and placed a finger under her chin and kissed Mira. Their first kiss. _“I will never mind being with you.”_

**Author's Note:**

> AN: thank you all for reading! I hope you enjoyed this! It was just a fun thing i wanted to write. And like i said before, this story is dedicated to alyssa!


End file.
